Belief Is A Curious Thing
by Edward the Pure
Summary: This is the story of an Exorcist, who doesn't realize their true potential. It's the modern age. About a hundred years ago the Black Order killed the Earl and the Noah. Somehow though, a new Earl has risen up. he doesn't act like the last one and has somehow made it so that multiple souls can be in one Akuma. The new Order must prevent this from happening and get rid of the factory
1. Prologue

**AN: Hello there my readers how have you been? It has been forever since I posted something here. And by forever, I mean a month. Inspiration was dead and when I did have it, it was for 2 new stories and I lost the flashdrive that had updates for my other stories on it. I've been trying to get inspiration back, as well as motivation, but I think it has returned. This story will be set in modern day and will involve worldwide travel, so a little bit of a warning there may be a lot of skipping. For people who just started reading D. Gray Man and don't understand the stuff yet, or if you're one of my normal readers and you haven't read it, I really hope you will follow me along on this story, since it will end up tying with a few of my other stories. And also before we begin I want to say one thing: ****the name has nothing to do with the plot. It's just something I decided to name it for now. ****So, without further ado, allow me to begin.**

Prologue

*Third POV, alley way with only 1 lamp post*

The lamp post barely illuminated the alleyway, but two figures could be seen in the dark. One was of a male, relatively skinny male, and the other was a well built male, much taller than the skinny man. The taller of the two began to speak immediately. "I have located the item you requested sir. Is there anything else you need?"

The skinny one moved his left hand to his chin, pondering. "Yes," he said as a black blade came out of his forearm and impaled the taller man through his head. "Speak only when spoken to or else that shell of yours will be destroyed." The blade turned into a puff of smoke as the taller man tensed up. "Do I make myself perfectly clear, you lowly Akuma?" The skinny one crossed his arms together.

"Yes sir, Lord Millenium," the taller said before tensing up even more, if possible.

The skinny man turned away and walked away, saying as he went, "We went over this you piece of crap, don't call me by that name. That was the weakling who died a hundred years ago. I'm not him, nor do I wish to be called by that pathetic title. Call me Yggdrasil." He faded away from view as the light burned out, leaving the person in darkness.

His voice though could be heard just before his form disappeared. "Yes, Lord Tsubasa."

*Third POV, hospital room*

Curtains flap as the window is opened by a nurse. She had pink hair that reached down to her neck and was neatly combed, blue eyes, porcelain skin and she had on what the stereotypical nurse would wear, minus the cap. She turned to a hospital bed wear a boy was fast asleep. She let out a mock sigh and shook the boy lightly. "Sir, I'm sorry but it is time for you to get up," she said, quietly. She heard a light yawn and stepped back a bit.

"No need to apologize," the boy said groggily, sitting up out of the bed. He had flat white hair that reached the middle of his back and pale skin and he was wearing the outfit of a patient. His hair was covering his left eye, so it couldn't be seen. He pulled up a wheel chair and situated it where he could get down on it using his left hand. The nurse hadn't been assigned to this part of the hospital so she didn't understand why he was only using his left arm and not his right. Upon closer inspection, the area where his right arm should have been was completely flat. "You know it's rude to stare," the boy said while he grabbed a snow white eye-patch, brushed his hair out of the way and put it over his left eye.

The nurse just continued staring at the boy in front of her, feeling a pain of pity run through her. "Sorry," she said as she shook her head and looked away from him. "I didn't mean to, it's just," she stopped herself before she went any further.

"It's OK, I know what you're going to say and I don't care that much." He adjusted the back of the chair against the bed. He used his left arm to move both of his legs so that they were over the side of the bed. "There's nothing I can do about it, and I wasn't around for it to happen, so I just let it be." He slid down into the chair soon after and turned his head at the nurse. "So what exactly am I supposed to do today?" The nurse looked at the clip board in her hands and read what it said.

"It actually only says that you're scheduled for an offsite visit," she said confused. How had anyone been able to schedule something like that? Whoever it was must have had some power. She read a bit more and saw a little side note. "It's apparently a new form of physical therapy that's still in the experimental stages that you've been selected to participate in." The boy nodded his head and attempted roll out of the room, but couldn't reach the other wheel. The nurse just sighed a bit at him.

"Here, let me," she said as she began rolling him out of the door towards the area where they'd pick him up.

"Thanks." They kept on walking through the hospital, which was empty for some reason. The boy looked around nervously, but it didn't seem like there was anything. From how his chair was shaking, he could tell the nurse wasn't comfortable either. "Is there no one here? Do you know if anyone should be working right now?" He asked, not taking his eyes of off his surroundings. He also noticed that there was a peculiar smell in the air as well. He thought it was familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"No, there were tons of people around here only a few seconds ago." Something was off and the smell wasn't helping either. She stopped walking and began coughing all of a sudden. "W-what is this stuff?" She began coughing uncontrollably.

"So, they're here," the boy in the wheel chair said quietly, hoping the nurse didn't hear him. "I think it'd be best right now if we go back to my room." He said as the nurse was about to comply before she fell down on the floor, unconscious.

*Third POV, hospital room*

The nurse opened her eyes and saw she was lying on a patient bed. "Looks like you finally woke up," a male voice said. She looked in the direction of the person who spoke and saw the boy from before but he was dressed differently. Instead of the patient cloak that he was wearing he was now in a black sleeveless shirt, denim cargo shorts, and black and white striped shoes. As a plus he was standing straight up on his own with no help. He had his back turned to her. "I was beginning to think the Akuma's poison had gotten to you." He turned around and she saw his eye-patch was gone. In place of it was his eye, but it wasn't like a normal eye. It was pure black, a red pupil and two red, thick red rings surrounding it.

The nurse just continued to stare at him, clearly shocked at the boy in front of her. She composed herself enough to speak not long after. "W-what are you talking about? Who are you? How did I get here? And how are you able to stand?" The nurse was frightened out of her mind but she did feel like he was the only one who she could trust at this moment, for some odd reason.

"Well, you just wake up after nearly dying and you ask questions like those? You're very straightforward and focused, very nice." The nurse just glared at the boy and he just scoffed at her. "Well, you should know who I am. Everything is on the clipboard except that I'm 14 years old. What I was talking about was the gas that comes from the pieces of people the Akuma kill. As to why I'm walking, I could do so all along. I came here hoping that the Akuma wouldn't follow me but it seems they have. And I'm also supposed to meet someone here. As to how you got here, " He turned away and stared at the door, "how do you think?"

There was a rustling at the door and the young man motioned for the nurse to get down. The nurse was about to complain when a bullet blasted through the door and implanted itself into the wall across the room. The nurse complied willingly after that. The door busted down soon after and an egg-shaped machine with a human face with grey skin and black bags under its eyes and multiple cannons mounted all around it busted through the wall while getting into the building. It looked at the boy and aimed all of its cannons at him.

"So, you guys aren't just mindless killing machines, but have some thought process," he said rather calmly as the stump where his right arm should have been began glowing a pale green. "But that doesn't mean you're smart in the least." 6 pale greenish silver tentacles formed from the energy and speared straight through the machine. "Sending a Level 1 isn't enough to even challenge me." The tentacles changed back into pure energy and engulfed the machine and retreated back to the stump, taking on a new form. It changed into a human arm, but it was obviously metal because of its silver shine.

The boy turned to the nurse and just smiled a bit and waved with his new arm. "It's all clear for now, so you can come out now." The nurse rose from behind the bed and just stared surprised at the events that had just occurred.

"What just happened? What is that?" She pointed at the arm that had appeared out of nowhere. "And what was that thing?" The boy just sighed a little bit, a sweat drop appearing on his brow.

"Well, I'm not the best at explaining stuff like this but I can try my best." His left eye changed to look like his other eye. "That was an Akuma, a weapon created by a villain known as the Millenium Earl. They're resurrected people who are forced to do what the Earl says, which is to kill people. Akuma can't be harmed by normal methods so there's this material known as Innocence that can allow people to use it to make Anti-Akuma weapons. Though not everyone can use Innocence like that. You have to be compatible with it. This," he raised his right arm again, "is mine. It allows me to absorb the machine that makes up the Akuma's body and frees the soul trapped and it creates an arm." He tried to think of anything else, but he thought he covered it. "There are probably more outside, so I'll get rid of them. You stay put." He sprinted toward the window and jumped out of it.

The nurse just stared at it blankly. He had jumped out of the 5th floor of the hospital. Either he was really gutsy, or really stupid; or possibly both.

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**AN: And that is it for this chapter. I know that I really made it dialogue, heavy, but aren't most first chapters? Anyway, I will be accepting OCs for this, so if you're not a fan of something like that, why did you read this far? You shouldn't have even come to the first AN because in the summary it clearly says it's an OC story. Anyway, the form was a bit hard to figure out so please fill it out to the best of your abilities.**

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Appearance:

Personality:

Innocence: (Include what type it is, what it looks like sealed and unsealed, and if it has any special properties, e.g. Lavi's hammer can manipulate nature)

History:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Other: (If you think I missed any)

**I will have another OC form later on in the chapters, but for now this is all I'm accepting. I really hope to get some OCs for this and I will see you guys next time. Oh wait, I forgot. I don't have a name thought out yet so if you can think of one please let me know. Until next time then, ciaossu.**


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey everybody and welcome back to another installment of _I Will Fight for Tomorrow_ or if you're reading this after the name was changed, if it was, then welcome to another installment of the story that was known as _I Will Fight for Tomorrow_. In the last episode we met an Exorcist whose name I forgot to include. Well actually in all honesty that's a bit of a lie. I did mean to not put it in, but I did mean to go back and fix it at some point. I actually got more OCs than I originally intended, so that actually put me off guard. But I have actually thought of a plot line that I like a bit better than the one I originally had going on. Now I do have a bit of announcement to include as well but that'll be said at the end. But for now, how about we get some OCs added in to this story. I will say something. I had a bit of difficulty finding out how to incorporate one since that was one I had asked to borrow before I decided to set this fic in the modern time, but I think I got something in store for her that'll knock your socks off. But without further adu, how about we get a start on this chapter.**

Chapter 1

*Third POV*

Tons of Akuma similar to the one that was destroyed inside the hospital were beginning to surround the building. "So, they think that will help?" A figure standing in the shadow of the hospital asked.

"Yeah, but they don't know any better," another figure, similar in size build said.

"They are only simple Akuma, not much more advanced to what they had 100 years ago," a third figure said, grabbing her left wrist. The figure looked behind her to see that there were only the other two figures. "Um, what happened to Markus and Blake?" The two other figures looked behind them and gasped.

They looked at each other and pointed at one another. "Weren't you supposed to make sure they didn't leave?" They asked each other. The third figure just sighed and turned around.

"Well wherever they are, they'll miss all the action," the figure said as she stepped out of the shadows. She had mid-back length red hair, dark red eyes, fairly tall standing at about 5'6" it seemed, and was wearing a dark blue t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of black flats. There was a silver bracelet with a silver scythe charm attached.

"They always disappear about this time, I wonder why," the second figure said as she stepped out, slightly behind the first one. She was about 5'6", had ear-length, messy black hair, emerald eyes, tanned skin, a nimble build, and was wearing a navy tank top, a black, short-sleeved jacket that she had left open, jeans, and dark grey boots. She looked to have multiple scars down both of her arms. In fact, if she had left the jacket closed, she would have probably been mistaken as a boy. "Well, should we get started Lilianna?" She asked as the scars started to glow.

"Why not Ember, I mean if they're gone before those two get back, then what's the big deal?" The other figure, Lilianna, said as her charm began to glow silver. The light died and in its place was a scythe as tall as Lilianna. The staff part was a pure black while the blade was a simple contrasting silver.

The scars on the other girl, Ember's, arms died, there was a pair of dark red gauntlets that covered her entire forearm with a golden claws with wisps of maroon along them that were nearly a foot and a half long. She got into a fighting stance while Lilianna did the same.

"Honestly, the two of you. It's like you actually think this'll make a difference," the remaining figures said as she stepped out of the shadows. She was about 5'7.5", standing taller than the other two despite appearing younger, had knee-length, jet black hair with an antenna sticking out at the top, dark brown eyes, and pale skin. She was wearing a black, sleeveless shirt, black pants, dark brown boots, and a pure black trench coat that was left open. "I mean, all you're doing is stopping a level 2 from appearing. And even that's not much of a challenge." She sighed and reached into her trench coat, pulling out a pure black handle.

"Well what can we say Ena*, the pure thrill of it is just so exciting," Lilianna said as she charged at the Akuma, swinging her scythe with relative ease and cutting through 3 Akuma, causing them to explode.

"It's just so fun!" Ember said as she ran forward and swung her claws, moving with incredible speed. There were multiple scratch marks on 2 Akuma and both of them blew up. Ember ran towards another one and slashed through it with ease. "Hey Lilianna, whoever destroys the least has to do dishes tonight," Ember said as she landed on the ground, rolling out of the way as multiple Akuma shot at the location she just landed at.

Lilianna swung again and cut through 3 more. "Fine, but if you don't want to do them you better step it up. I'm already at 6." She jumped out of the way as numerous purple blasts shot hit where she had just been.

Ena just stood there and sighed. Those two were a handful. She was more mature and she was younger than the two, only being about 12 3/ 4. But as she watched she was glad she wasn't in the fray yet. Those two were tearing the Akuma apart left and right. She was beginning to feel like she should just stay there and not get in the way.

"So, they're already getting hectic," a new voice said. Ena looked behind her. She saw a man with short, black hair, lightly tanned skin, brown eyes, about 5'4" she estimated, and was wearing the cloak that Exorcists from the original Black Order used to wear plus a black cap. He actually looked younger than he appeared to be. "Well, better go help them." He pulled out a small pocket book from his pocket. He looked at Ena expectantly, but she just stood there watching.

She noticed that he was staring at her and just put up a fake smile. "Don't worry about me Markus, I'll just stay here." Markus gave her a suspicious look and just sighed.

"Do we really have to go through this? You've seen how effective you were in that last battle." He asked. Ena didn't make eye contact as she just stared at the battle, Lilianna and Ember shouting out numbers, keeping track. "Ugh, fine. But you better hope Benjamin's in a good mood." The book changed size to that of a Grimoire. "Book of Tales, lend me Excalibur!" He yelled as he crossed his arms and the book floated in front of him, producing the hilt of a sword. He then proceeded to charge in to help as the book continued to levitate in front of him.

He was also effortlessly cutting down Akuma, though he seemed more focused. The Akuma didn't stop firing at them, but they couldn't hit their targets. Ena still just stood and watched, feeling even worse about herself. They had more experience with their Anti-Akuma weapons, except Ember, and they were ripping through the Akuma like they were pieces of paper. _How could I even compete with that?_ She asked herself mentally before hearing a familiar voice.

"Look out below!" She looked up and someone had jumped out of the fifth story. The sounds of firing had stopped and the other Exorcists had looked up to see the same thing Ena had seen. The boy had white hair that reached the middle of his back, pale skin, a dark brown eye and a black eye with a red pupil and 2 red rings around the pupil, and he was wearing black pants, a brown shirt, a black trench coat similar to the one Ena was wearing and even had it opened up, dark brown shoes, and his entire right arm was a silver.

He moved himself so his right arm was pointing towards the ground and the rest of his body was following it. There were a few silver tendrils pop out of his wrist that wrapped around his hand to form a drill. It started rotating and when he hit the ground, he simply stopped there. The Akuma didn't give him time to recover as they began shooting at him automatically.

The drill was replaced by his hand and he used it like a spring and bounced backwards, avoiding the blasts. He landed by Ena and the others began attacking again, drawing the Level 1's attention towards them. He looked at Ena and just smiled goofily. "Sorry to be late Ena, but I had to save this nurse and-" He cut himself off when he noticed that the girl he was talking to wasn't even battling. He just sighed instead and grabbed her by both of her shoulders, lightly shaking her. "Why aren't you there in the fray? Aren't you an Exorcist?" He asked, confusion and annoyance mixed together in his voice.

Ena looked away again, sadness evident in her face. "I'm not as skilled as everyone here. I'd just get in the way." The boy that had shaken her just sighed and let go, pointing upwards to the sky with his right arm.

"If we have to go over this anymore you'll burn out. That flame you produced when I first met you, remember that?" Ena nodded. "Just remember that that flame of yours will burn away the boundary between you and the heavens themselves. If you don't believe it will then don't worry. You don't have to believe in yourself." He moved his hand and pointed his thumb at himself. "Just believe in me. Believe in the Benjamin that believes in you."

Ena just stared at Ben in awe. She didn't understand why, but every time he said those words she felt more inspired. She nodded and tightened the grip on her handle. "And if I don't then you're drill will pierce the through that boundary right?" She asked, trying to finish up his speech.

"Heh, that's right. Now, let's give them a taste of that Blazing Spiral." Ena nodded and flames surrounded the handle and transformed it into a silver blade with runes written down the sides and a bronze guard. Her hair and eyes had also changed into a fiery crimson and there were embers that were fluttering down from her head.

The two of them both prepared to run into the fray when they saw that Lilianna and Ember were taking heavy fire and couldn't move without being hit. "I'll get Ember, you get Lilianna," Ena said as Ben nodded, the drill from before appearing on his hand again, only becoming wider and appearing to form a shield.

Ena ran over to Ember, who was using her gauntlets to block the blasts from hitting her, and cut through the Akuma like they were nothing. Akuma that had been busy fighting Markus shifted their attention to Ena. "Sorry, but I think I'll have to steal the stage just this once Ember," Ena said as flames started circling around her sword. She swung it and a thin wave of flame shot from the blade, slashing through the Akuma and engulfing them in flames. She turned to Ember and gave her a cold stare. "Though I may do it more often." She said as she turned to watch Benjamin's progress.

Lilianna had been swinging her scythe in front of her to block the blasts, but a few did get through, barely missing her. Ben ran in front of the attacks with his make shift shield. "You alright Lilianna?" He asked as he stood there like it was casual to just stand there.

Lilianna got up, panting a bit. "Yea, thanks for the assist." She jumped over the shield soon after and slashed through 4 Akuma at once. "But I don't think I need much help from here on out." She headed towards a group of Akuma that had begun moving towards Markus, who had been taking care of all the Akuma he'd encountered so far with relative ease.

Ben held his right arm upwards and changed the shape of the drill again to a normal drill but a large one, probably the size of a 5 story building. "Alright, then move out of the way so I can get rid of those." He yelled as he began to bring the drill to point at his targets. "Giga!" The drill started to spin as he brought it down. Lilianna heard that and jumped out of the way. "Drill!" He thrust it forward and the same pale green energy from before fired from the base of the drill, thrusting him forward like a rocket. "Break!" He held break out for a few seconds as he rammed straight through the Akuma, leaving a hole in between all of them and cracking several others. "And let your souls be set free from this torment." He said quietly as each Akuma exploded. He flicked his arm and the drill disappeared.

Ena just stared in awe. She knew that Ben had been working on a new technique, but didn't imagine it would be something like that. She looked over and saw that there more still coming. "Crap, Benjamin there's more coming!" She yelled at him as she ran over to him. The group of Akuma were so closely packed together that they'd be hard to pick off one by one.

"So, that's what I saw before jumping out here," he said as there was a whirring sound from his left eye. He looked shocked. "How is it possible? There's double the number of souls in each Akuma." Ena looked at him confused.

"Wait, I thought that by visiting people who lost loved ones, the Earl tricked them into creating Akuma but they could only bring back on person for that purpose. And even if it was multiple wouldn't it have to be double the number of Akuma not double the souls?" She asked as the Akuma grew closer. "Do we need an optometrist check that out?" She asked jokingly, trying to lift the mood.

"No, my eye hasn't lied yet. Those souls that are trapped inside the Akuma are 2 per Akuma." He shook off the worry in a flash though. "But that'll be a mystery for later. For now let's do the you-know-what." He pulled out a pair of black, V-shaped sunglasses and set them in his right hand.

"Ben, what're you talking about?" Ena asked while Ben simply tightened his grip on the sunglasses.

"_Innocence Addaptation._" A monotone voice said as the sunglasses changed to the size of Benjamin.

"You idiot. What else would I be talking about. Your flames and my arm. That's what I'm talking about." Ena got a bit more confused but just sighed and accepted it.

"OK, then here goes." She summoned flames around the sword and swung it in a way that caused the flames to cycle around the Akuma. "Alright, you're move Ben." The said boy nodded and brought back the sunglasses like he was going to throw them.

"Alright, let's show them the power of our team work. The Blazing Spiral Special Sun Scorcher: Burning Boomerang!" He threw them and they actually spun towards the Akuma. When it was halfway between the two groups, it separated into 2 separate sets and cut through all the Akuma. Each one exploded after the shades returned to Ben, merging back into one and shrinking back down to the size of regular shades.

He turned around and saw that Lilianna, Ember, and Markus were just staring at the exploit that Ben had just done. "Y-you destroyed them all with one attack?" Ember said stuttering slightly.

"Yes and no. Yes I destroyed them, but it wasn't one attack." He patted Ena on the back and smiled goofily. "It wouldn't work without Ena's flames." Ena blushed when she heard those words and just stared at the ground as she deactivated her Anti-Akuma weapon, changing her eye and hair color back to their normal shades.

Everyone else did the same, except Ben. He looked at his arm and just let out a little sigh. The arm shattered and fell to the ground in shambles and he winced a bit. "Still hurts like hell to deactivate." He mumbled, softly enough so that no one else heard him.

"Well whatever," Lilianna said as she began counting on her fingers. "Let's see, I got about 17 of them destroyed. How many you get Ember?" Ember gave it some thought then snapped her fingers, though sighed angrily.

"I got 13." She moped a bit after realizing that she'd be doing the dishes, again. Lilianna laughed in victory and began walking away.

"Anyway, how about we go and get dinner so we can talk." She said as she rounded the corner between where they had been standing and the hospital.

Markus followed, a mischievous grin on his face like one of his famous pranks was about to come true. Ember closed up her jacket and ran after Lilianna. Ben looked at Ena confused. Ena saw the look and just sighed, knowing that Ben had no knowledge of their latest achievement.

"We found out where their factory is. We'll be discussing plans," she said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to follow. Ben stared forward. If they had discovered where the Akuma were being made they'd be able to shut it down no problem. That was definitely something that was interesting.

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**AN: OK, how'd you like it? Good? Bad? Decent? Was everyone done alright? This is stuff I always wonder when writing. But anyway, the announcement is that this story will actually be low priority so don't expect many more chapters after this one. I want to finish my first major story, _The Wings of Fairy Tail: Titanic Power_, so I can get to work on the rest of the trilogy planned for it. But another reason I won't be updating this much, since I want to get my first third done already, is that I have summer school in a week. So I'm going to be forcing myself to write non-stop this week to get you guys the best stuff and update at least each of my stories and let you know. There might be occasional updates Saturdays and Sundays, but no promises. That's about it for now. Oh wait one last thing, who do you think the main character is? I'm actually curious to see what your answers will be since it'll have to do with the plot. I won't tell you if you're right or not but I am curious to find out who I'm making it out to be. But to divert, next time in this story we'll get to stuff about this 'factory' and other stuff I don't have planned. So leave a review, follow the story and favorite. If you're an author you should know the joys of reviews so please feel free to drop one; love to hear what you think. But that's a bit too diverted. Until next time, ciaossu.**


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey everyone, it's Edward the Pure here, bringing you another installment of this D. Gray Man fic. I must say that it is nice to finally be here again after having to write that flipping paper, finishing the course, and having writers block for so long. I actually finished on the 2nd but I got caught up in stuff that I shouldn't have so yeah, just finishing up.**

**Ena: Finally you got that entirely done huh?**

**Me: Yeah, finished it last night, uploaded a thing for my one-shot series that I've been meaning to write for awhile, then went to bed. I feel really good about it.**

**Ben: Glad to hear that. It seems that you pushed through.**

**Me: Not only did I push, I fought with all my will to get through. It - looks at Ena & Ben Wait, how'd you two get here?**

**Ena: You didn't lock the door.**

**Ben: And I was bored out of my mind so I thought I'd come to pester you a bit to work on this story.**

**Me: Well, better get writing then, especially since you guys aren't supposed to be here. And quick warning to you from the me here in the past here, since I write my AN's before the actual story, in case the future me goes with it, I'll be trying to make this longer than normal both to make up for the lack of updates while I was on hiatus and also because there is a lot of content I want to include but I want a specific chapter number for where I end this off. Now let's get started.**

Chapter 2

Unknown First POV

I looked around me. Everything was black, but for some reason there were spirals all over the place. I mean, that is to say, they looked like galaxies, but there was no way I'd be seeing this many, at least that's what I heard from Ben and Markus. They were seen as the knowledgeable ones in our group, but they treated Lilianna with respect. Why is a mystery to me, but I guess that if they wanted me to know they'd tell me. But I'm getting off subject. I shouldn't let my thoughts wander at this time.

I looked around a bit and didn't see anything, at least not at first. But a when I looked up I saw 2 figures. One looked a lot like Ben in shape but it was just a mass of greenish blue flames with a pair of red, v-shaped sunglasses and wore a red cape that has a high collar on it. The other one was a dark purple, slightly taller and looked like a mass of bones making up a demonic skeleton with a lighter shade of purple surrounding it like an aura. They both stood facing each other for less than a second before the skeleton brought back its right arm transformed into a drill that was the same color as the skeleton. The flaming figure brought back its own right hand and did the same thing. The two attacks collided and pushed against one another, causing a large blast of power to expand from the tips of the drills.

The energy expanded seemingly forever until finally the attacks parried one another and they both moved the respective owners left. There was a muffled voice as the flaming figure pulled off the cape with his right hand and threw it away while pointing his right hand upwards and a drill began to form from the hand. The muffled voice continued as the drill grew easily a hundred times larger than Ben's Giga Drill, if not more. The voice became a little audible as the drill span and shoot towards the skeleton like a rocket, but I could only make out 2 words. "~~~~~~~! DRILL! BREAK!" That voice, it wasn't Ben's, it was- but that's impossible. How could that be? Why was-

My thoughts were interrupted as the skeleton spoke, a little more ominous and throaty, but not audible at all. He brought up his left hand and appeared to mimic the flaming figures perfectly. When he launched the attack I could hear his voice clearly. "Yggdrasil's! Giga! Drill! BREAKER!" The two attacks spun towards each other, moving fast but seemingly going slow. They were about to connect as a large flash of light blinded me.

Third POV, roof top

Ena stood on the roof top, looking over the city. She still couldn't believe that there were cities that were this large. There was the sound of footsteps as she turned around to see whose they were. It was actually two people, Ben and Ember. Ember was fully dressed for the day and Ben was only in a pair of brown pants and brown shoes. The two stopped as I turned towards them. "Are you seriously going out like that?" Ena asked pointing at Ben. He looked himself and just shrugged it off.

"No, but I'd prefer it if I could. A shirt's a bit restrictive in movement," he said as he scratched the back of his head. Ember just giggled a bit and Ena glared at her. Why she found it funny she didn't get, but she really didn't at the moment. "Thanks for pointing it out sis, didn't really notice it." Ena looked at him and smiled slightly, nodding her head. Ben turned around and walked away as he waved his hand. "I'll be right back so play nice you two." He entered the stair way that he had originally entered from and disappeared, leaving Ena and Ember alone with one another.

Ena, not knowing what to say just stood there and looked out over the city. Ember decided the quiet was uncomforting and tried filling it. "You know, I'm jealous," she said as Ena pretended to ignore her. "I mean you and Ben's bond. It's something I wish I'd have with him." Ember clasped both of her hands together as she looked over the city. "He's the only one who's proven my ideals wrong." Ena just scoffed at that.

"Yeah, I guess it is pretty good, being like my brother and all," Ena said, spitting out 'brother' distastefully. Ember looked at her confused. "I mean, I he started out that way, but now it's hard to even think of him like that anymore." Ember nodded, slightly understanding.

"You want something more, but you don't think he'll give you more so you're trying to stay in the comfort zone." Ena nodded, turning towards Ember and actually looking at her. "But because of that you've left him open for someone else to take him." Ember smiled slightly and Ena just turned back towards the city.

"Please don't rub it in Ember." Ena looked downwards towards the streets below. Ena just didn't think she could

"I wouldn't rub it in usually, but I wanted to better understand your situation." Ember turned away from the city and smiled. "So, you ready to go?" Ena turned to see who she was talking to and saw that it was Ben, wearing a tight fitting navy blue shirt.

"Why else would I be coming up here again instead of staying downstairs?" Ember rolled her eyes a bit and Ena just stood there off to the side. "So, Ena let's go." Ena looked at the two confused.

"Huh? Me?" She pointed to herself. "A-are you sure it's OK?" Ember just sighed and looked down slightly.

"Yeah I guess," she said as she turned around and began walking towards the stairway, Ben following shortly after. Ena just stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds, confused about the entire events that had just taken place. But she soon recovered and ran after the two of them.

Third POV, Streets of Norman, Oklahoma

Ben, Ember, and Ena were all walking down the sidewalk towards the grocery store to pick up stuff they needed. The streets were fairly quiet since they based themselves, until they could actually get back to the rest of the Order at least, in a neighborhood with little to no people in it. There was only one other person out at the moment, and he was asleep in a shopping cart. They were fairly silent as they walked, the only sounds being their footsteps. They didn't seem to mind it much though, but Ember, like before, was the one who defused the silence.

"So Ben, why is it you can pay for groceries, but you can't get us back to D.C. to meet up with the others?" She asked as Ena just walked a few feet behind. Ben just sighed and stopped walking.

"My dad doesn't like me being in the Order, especially since I'm only 14. But he did agree to letting me use his credit card for necessities, but travel was all on me. My mom doesn't want anything to do with the Order so she won't pay for anything," he said as Ember stopped as well. "Unless we want to walk all the way there, travelling over half of the country, we're on our own until we can save up enough money." The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds before Ember sighed.

"Well since that's not an option I guess we're stuck here then," Ember said in a mock sarcastic tone and shrugged her shoulders as she did so. Ben just laughed a bit at that. The two of them walked by an alley way when there was a whirring sound as Ben's left eye changed pure black with 2, thick red rings and a red pupil.

Ben turned his head towards the alley way and ran in. Ember stared at where Ben had run off to confused. Ena saw what Ember was doing and looked where she was staring. "Did Ben just run off?" Ena asked and Ember just nodded. Ena sighed and started walking down the alley way. "Then let's go after him." Ember sighed and followed, knowing that Ben would probably need their help eventually.

Ben's POV

I ran down the alley way, finding out soon after just how much of a maze the place had turned out to be. I ran around, following where my eye was telling me to go. I think I got lost myself as I kept going. Eventually I made it a dead end, my eye hurting a bit, letting me know an Akuma was near. I looked around, trying to find it but there wasn't any place that he could hide. I heard a shuffle behind me, but as I turned around to find the source I backed up a bit to avoid getting my head cut off by a butcher's cleaver. I grabbed a trash can lid and used it as a shield against the person who was attacking me swung the cleaver again. I threw the lid at him and he just wacked it aside, stopping where he stood there.

I finally got a look at him. He had neck-length dirty blonde hair, yellowish eyes, pale-ish skin, and was wearing a black with red stripes attire of shirt, pants, and shoes. My eye was hurting a bit so I could tell he was an Akuma, but I couldn't make out the appearance of the soul trapped in him for some reason. He got into a more comfortable stance and smiled cockily. "I'm impressed, human," he said as he closed his eyes and snickered. I just grit my teeth and clenched my fist.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked as I loosened my grip and reached for my shades in my left pocket. He opened his eyes and let a serious look come across his face. He brought up the cleaver and pointed it at me.

"Who I am bears no importance. A lowly Exorcist like you doesn't need to know something as trivial as that." I cocked an eye brow and planted my right foot behind me, getting ready for my next move.

"Say what? What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, not really caring but trying to throw his game off.

"There are two things you should know. First, I am no one and that is all. Any other information about myself isn't even important. Second, you've run straight from help into the jaws of your death." He positioned himself to rush me, but I already was ready for that.

"Oh really? Well then you should know that I go down like a hot tamale!" I spun on my right heel and kicked a trash can at him, blocking his view of me for a brief moment. I pulled out my black v-shaped shades and put them over the emerald cross on the stub where my right arm would be.

He knocked the trash out of the way and took a step forward. "Where do you-" He stopped himself as he saw what I was doing. I moved the shades from the stub as they began growing in size to that of a katana.

"You think I'm going to run? Don't insult me. Who the hell do you think I am?" I swung the shades around a bit and slung it over my shoulder. "The names Benjamin Walker of the Black Order." I pointed the end of the shades at him. "And I never run from my enemies."

The Akuma just smirked got ready to rush me again. "Your pathetic bravado will get you killed," he said as I ran at him and made a horizontal slash. He dodged easily and I cut the fence behind him completely in half and causing splinters to fly through the air.

He spun the cleaver in his hands and slashed at me, easily blockable. "I must say you fight well, but you're just an amateur when it comes to sword play." He slashed again, and I blocked. His next assault I hadn't seen coming as he barely cut into my side. "Do you honestly think you're a match for a killing machine?" He swung downwards, but as I blocked he barely cut my arm. He then quickly slashed again and got my left shoulder.

"Dumbass," I saw as I blocked another swing. "Real men don't think." I jumped over a low swing he had made. The amethyst glowed brightly. "They act!" A thin line of energy shot out of the cross. He reacted by jumping back, but I had cut his left cheek.

"W-what was?" He said as he landed and crouched down. He brought his left hand up to his cheek to feel the wound. The line retracted to the cross.

"Damn, slippery creep dodged it." I spun the shades so I was holding them back handed.

"So you wounded me, very impressive." He wiped off the black liquid that began flowing out of the wound. "But sneak attacks only work one time. So now what?" I stood my ground and shifted positions. "For you it's over!" He rushed again and got ready to swing.

He was about to swing when something made him stop. "Look out Ben!" I turned in the direction of the voice and saw that it came from behind another fence. It busted open as Ena, the way she looked when she activated her Anti-Akuma weapon, came tumbling through, landing on her back right in front of me. The Akuma had jumped back to the end of the alley when Ena had landed.

The shades shrunk back down and I put them on my face. "Good move Ena. Nice save." She just slowly got back up.

"I came when you ran off and followed the clangs to find you." We both turned to the Akuma, who was crouched down.

"It's just a little girl?" He suddenly became alert and moved quickly out the way as Ember came out of nowhere and had tried to slash him with her claws, ebony black to blend in the shadows. He then ran down the alley that had been opened thanks to Ena.

We both ran after him, but I could hear one thing as we passed Ember. "How'd he sense me? I didn't even activate until I was right behind him." We were a good few yards away before she started following us.

We all turned a corner and saw him stand there. He leaned forward and electric cables spurted from his back and wrapped around him. There was a surge of electricity and the cables retracted into the Akuma, revealing his true form. He was pure white, humanoid in shape, but he seemed a bit odd. His entire torso was grey and his face, only his eyes were pure yellow. He also had a neck and head, or at least I think he did. It looked like it could be a head but there wasn't a face on it. There was a grey ring on the forehead that was probably the same size as that head of his.

"W-what is that thing?" Ena asked as she grabbed her handle and formed her sword.

"That must be a level two. They change completely from a level one when they evolve." I started walking towards the Akuma. "Now, let's go Ena."

"Are you sure?" She looked at me nervously. "This guy seems way tougher than anyone we've ever fought before."

I just snickered. "Don't be scared Ena. You got your sword don't you? You got your flame right?"

"Yeah but-" I cut her off there.

"Then let's go."

The Akuma had been patiently standing still waiting for me to get into fighting distance."There had been rumors of a large amount of Innocence to be located here. I'll have this wrapped up before dinner." He didn't even move from where he stood.

I walked towards him and the cross glowed again. "Well it seems that you found some then." Tendrils of pale green energy shot from my stub and impaled him. "Too bad that you won't even get a chance to tell your friends." He just laughed and grabbed the tendrils, ripping them with a single pull. I stared at him shocked and surprised.

"You think that because you can do that on a basic level one it'll work on an advanced level two?" He asked as I formed new tendrils and had them impale three trash cans. In a pale green flash a silver arm formed. I moved it a bit to make sure it worked.

"Well, that should always be the case shouldn't it?" I walked up to him and got up close to his head. "By the way who the hell do you think you are having two faces you cocky bastard?" The Akuma seemed to sneer at that.

"Oh this? It was something that Yggdrasil gives to all Akuma he's given 4 or more souls to. But how could I expect a mere Exorcist to understand?" I tried to punch him in the gut (or mouth?) but he simply grabbed my fist. "You talk a good game, Exorcist. But you're in major need of improvement!" He elbowed me head so I was leaning forward and slammed both of his fists into my back, followed up by kicking me back a few feet.

Probably bad point to do so, but if I want to make this good at all I'm going to have to switch to Ena's POV here

Me and Ember both watched as Ben was knocked to the ground. "Ben!" Ember screamed as she walked to the side of the buildings. "Ena, go help Ben. I'll cover you." I nodded and ran towards the Akuma, flames surrounding my body. He simply looked bored as a few spikes shot out of his right arm. They flew right next to me and exploded, breaking my flame and momentum, eventually knocking me back by Ben.

Ember appeared behind the Akuma and attempted to slash his back. The Akuma spun around and kicked Ember a few yards away. Ben slowly got up and saw what had happened.

"Ember, get back!" He yelled as we both got up. We both looked at one another. "OK Ena, time to do the you-know-what." I nodded and jumped back a bit.

Ben turned his back to the Akuma and interlaced his fingers. "Chew on this. Blazing Spiral Sky Breaking Combustion of Awesome Spirit Sky-bombing Attack!" Flames surrounded me and I ran at Ben. I stepped on his hands and he pushed up so I could get high up and attack. I got to the optimum height and fell straight towards him. I let loose a swing so that he'd think that I was still going. He fell for it and side stepped. I landed right behind him and thrust my sword right towards him.

But he had spun around and knocked me into an abandoned building across the street from us. Ben tried to attack from behind but the Akuma just swept at Ben's feet, causing him to trip and nearly fall on his feet. "Didn't you hear me when I talked about sneak attacks?" He lifted the head up to look Ben directly in the eyes. "They only work once!" The machine punched Ben so hard he flew right into the building I had. Red energy started to form in the circle. "It's over, now die!" A large burst of red energy shot from the circle, causing the building to explode.

I covered the both of us in a cloak of flames so we would be hidden. There was the sound of wood breaking and gear grinding. "They're gone? I see those two have mastered the art of running away." There was more grinding noise as I heard footsteps walking away. "No matter, I'll wrap this up tomorrow." He said as the grinding stopped and the footsteps completely disappeared.

I turned off the flames and used my Innocence to stop the burning of the building, all while shaking. I knew it would go badly. I knew we would have died had we continued. There was no way for us to win. The only way to have lived was to run, to be scared. And that was exactly what I was, right out of my mind.

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

**AN: And that's it. Stopped it a bit earlier than I would have liked, but it's nearly midnight and I have a job interview tomorrow, so no long AN this time. But I will reveal that this story is based off of two other anime as well as D. Gray Man. You probably won't get it but feel free to make guesses. Anyway, leaving you off here. Will probably have another chapter up tomorrow since this was only the first half of what I wanted to write. Well, you know what I'm going to say about reviewing. And please, if you sent in an OC or I'm using an OC of yours, please let me know if I kept them in character. I know we didn't see much of Lilianna or Markus, but we'll see them a bit more as the story progresses. Anywho, that's it for this installment of _Belief Is A CuriousThing_, as I have newly dubbed it, liking that a bit more. Until next time, ciaossu.**


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: Hey guys who read this. Not really anything to say, so there won't be anything in the ending AN, or probably nothing at all. But right now, I will say that this won't be too long, only consisting of the end of the fight and a bit of set up as well. After that that'll probably be why it'll take so long to get this up. And the reason I had them go to the store is because, well, I needed to show that it wasn't always fighting Akuma and they had some, if not much, time to do stuff they want. But anyway, here's the third (fourth counting prologue) chapter.**

Chapter 3

*Later that night, same roof top as at the beginning, Third POV*

Ben and Ember both sat at the edge of the rooftop, feet dangling over. Ena thought back to earlier after the fight. Ben had been quiet the entire time, not speaking a single word. They just went to the store, got everything that Markus had put on the list for them and got back. Ben had been avoiding Ena the rest of the day. The two usually came up to the roof and ate their dinner there, talking about what they went through during their travels.

Ena stared down at the city, watching the cars down below. Ben chose to talk finally, letting Ena know he wasn't mad at her. "Ena, why'd you hide us with your flames?" He asked as Ena twiddled her thumbs.

"I-I was scared. I-I wanted to run away." She stopped twiddling her thumbs and scooted a little closer to Ben. "I don't want to do this anymore." She brought her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly. "Today, we were helpless. They're tougher than us. We can't handle this on our own." Ben just kept eating, seemingly ignoring Ena, but noting her every word. "I don't want to die. And I don't want to see you die either. If this keeps up you're going to end up-" She stopped there, not even wanting to think about it. That had been more than enough blood on her hands for her liking.

Ben just sighed, setting his plate down behind him, swung his legs over and stood up, pointing to the sky. Ena turned her head towards him as he finished his actions. "Ena, that flame of yours is meant to burn a path to the heavens. It's not for running away, you got that?"

Ena looked back down at the cars. "But I-" Ben put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her there.

"Listen, tomorrow's the final showdown so I'm getting to bed. You should to." And with that Ben turned away and walked towards the stair way. Ena just sat there, not knowing what to do.

Ben walked through the door and was about to descend down the stairs when a voice, coming from beside the door, stopped him. "Let me fight instead of her." The voice belonged to Ember. She was leaning against the wall and her arms crossed. She was wearing a black, silk, button down shirt and matching pants. "I can fight tomorrow in Ena's place. If I don't next time you'll be killed for sure. I'll use Mantis Dance's Flame mod so you won't be without a flame for your Blazing Spiral Techniques." Ember stood up straight, still looking intently at Ben. "Look, when it comes to combat I'm more used to it than him. Ena's just not the fighting type, she can't handle to pressure." She uncrossed her arms and swept the left one in front of her. "You saw what happened today. She ran."

Ben didn't even move, standing there taking in what Ember said. "Ena will pull through," Ben said after a few seconds of silence. Ember just took a step forward, slightly feeling offended.

"And why would he? How can you say that? Why do you have such faith in him?" She asked as he just sighed, and scratched the back of his head.

"I know, it doesn't make sense." Ember relaxed a bit, but still wasn't backing down on her point.

"What is it then?" Ben put his hand in his pocket and stared at the wall in front of him.

"You see it's all the same. I have faith in her because I have faith in me. Because I can believe in her I can believe in myself. It's all the same as far as I'm concerned." He moved his head so that she could see half of his face and looked directly at her. "Ena and I are partners. And that's just the way it is." And with that he continued walking down the stairs, leaving Ember standing there, staring at the spot he had just been standing and felt slightly annoyed at him, mixed a little with confusion.

*Barren Field just outside of town, Third POV*

Ben stood with his arms crossed (he made the right arm out of some Titanium Markus conjured up for him), staring at the horizon as the sun began to rise. He only had on a pair of black pants, sandals, a red cape and a pair of red v-shaped sunglasses. Markus was leaning against a rock spire that stuck out of the ground. Lilianna stood behind it, clutching her scythe charm. Ember and Ena were both at the back, Ember closer to the action then Ena was. Ben tapped his left ear quickly and got back into his stance. "Can everyone hear me?" He asked as a bit of static filled his ear.

"Loud and clear," Markus responded, pulling out a pocket book.

"Ten-fore," Lilianna said, removing the charm from the bracelet.

"Yeah, we all hear you," Ember said as her arms began to hurt a bit. She didn't want them to know, but she had landed wrong and had hurt both of her arms.

Ena tried activating her Anti-Akuma weapon, but she couldn't feel anything. _W-what's going on? Why can't I activate?_ She thought as she looked back to Ben. _Guess I'm no use after all, sorry Ben._

Ember planted both of her feet in place as she rotated her wrists. "No matter what, even if everyone else dies, I won't move behind this position. Because if we fall, then the Black Order may as well have been destroyed." Ena stared at Ember, feeling a little motivate, but not very. "Because we have nowhere to run." Ena started feeling guilty, but still didn't move.

"Well then," Markus said as he opened the book as it turned into the Book of Tales. "Guess it's do or die time."

There was a whistling sound that increased in volume with each second. None of them looked up, but if they had they would have seen a spinning white sphere heading right towards the ground in front of Ben, causing a large dust cloud to form. Ben didn't even back down. The dust blew away as the sphere spun, revealing it to be the Akuma from yesterday.

It looked at Ben and made a scoffing noise. "My compliments naked ape. Instead of running you decided to wait here for me." Ben just mimicked his scoff.

"Yeah, right back at ya for not running or hiding from me you mechanical freak of nature." Markus and Lilianna ran out from the shadows of the spire.

"Chapter 6: The 10 Days Assault!" He turned the book towards the Akuma and multiple gun shots sounded from the book, as well as many golden lights that hit the Akuma but seemingly did nothing.

Lilianna got close and attempted to slash him in half. The machine grabbed the staff part and ripped it out of Lilianna's grasp, kicking her hard in the gut. She hit one of the spires and it crumbled on top of her. Mini explosions occurred on the Akuma's arms and legs, but he seemed to barely notice. "Something itches." He tightened his grip and a single yellow burst of energy shot towards Markus, sending him flying back as well.

Ember couldn't stand watching and had run straight in, her claws called out and blazing blue. "Sapphire Slayer." She started to slash at him before he delivered a knee to her gut, followed up by a round house kick, sending her flying back by Ena.

"You honestly think that just because there are more of you that you stand a chance?" He pointed his right fist at her and golden light formed around his hand. "That's the belief of mere amateurs." He was about to fire it but he lost focus when Ben punched him in the chest (AN: Just realize the torso is his actual face, but I'm going to refer to it as what it is on his body). Everyone who was able watched as Ben made the Akuma move back very slightly.

"You guys are part of the Black Order, I can't let this guy take you out just like that." He felt lighter as the Akuma had thrown him over his shoulder.

"Same old tricks." Ben hadn't even hit the ground yet as the Akuma walked behind him. The Akuma kicked his back and sent him falling on the ground directly where he had just been standing. "Don't you ever learn!"

Ember got up and turned one of her claws into pure flames. "Ben!" She made a slashing motion, somehow firing off a crescent of fire at the Akuma. But the machine saw that, pointed his left hand at it and his forearm expanded forward, making a shield that had stopped the attack in its place.

Ben quickly took the opportunity and got up, charging at the Level 2. He was about to make it when the white creature retracted the shield and elbowed the back of Ben's head, sending him down the ground again. Everyone still conscious just watched as Ben started to get up again. The Level 2 just kicked him and caused him to fall to the ground again. "On your feet human." He kicked Ben again, somehow causing him to land on his feet and stand. Blood was trickling down his forehead and he was panting hard. "Ready to die?" It asked as it pointed it's right hand directly at Ben, shooting off the same darts as from yesterday, exploding before they even hit Ben.

Ben coughed up blood and staggered back, eventually falling down on his back. His right forearm flew off and made its way over to Ena and Ember, both astonished both by how far it had gone and that it had broken at all. Ember was leaning against a spire as Ena fell onto all fours, shaking all over. "It's hopeless." Ember looked at Ena like she was crazy. "It's no use anymore." She closed her eyes and just spoke mostly to herself. "Come on Ben let's just get out of here." Ember got sick and tired of it and walked over to Ena. She pulled her up on her feet and slapped her across the face, surprising Ena.

Ember just lowered her arms and looked Ena directly in the eyes. "Take a good look over there." They both looked over to where Ben was, standing up again. "He gets up again and again. You see?" Ena's eyes widened as, even though he staggered, Ben stood tall. "And he'll keep doing it until you get out there. Ben was told us, 'Don't believe in yourself. Just believe in the me that believes in you.'" Ember's face turned slightly sour, knowing this was the only way to save Ben. "So how about it Ena?" Ena just looked down, holding her cheek, letting the words sink in.

"I believe," she stopped there, not knowing what she believed in. She looked over and saw Ben fall down to one knee and slowly begin to stand. "I believe." A red glow came from underneath Ena, her hair changing color and her eyes as well. Ember took a few steps back, allowing Ena some room. Ben's arm slightly glowed as well, but very faintly. "I believe!" A column of flames surrounded Ena as she disappeared from sight and intensified in both heat and brightness, blinding Ember.

Over by Ben, who had finally got his footing, panting and blood trickling down his neck now, the Akuma stood still, little amusement left in it. "Oh, getting up again are we?" It asked.

"Ain't no way I'm going to let myself be taken out by you, you freak!" Ben said as he moved his feet so that he could charge forward.

"If nothing else, I must compliment you human." It said in a very cocky and condescending manner. Ben prepped his left fist to punch the Akuma and ran forward, only to have it grabbed by the living weapon. "For not knowing," he allowed Ben's momentum to continue as he began spinning Ben around like a ball and chain weapon, "WHEN TO GIVE UP!" He let Ben go, sending him crashing into one of the spires that was around. Lilianna finally got out from under the rubble and saw Ben crash into the spire.

"Benjamin!" She heard Markus yell, his book back to normal size with a few scratches on it.

She just grunted and grabbed her arm, since it was roaring in pain. "He's no match for that thing. How could only a Level 2 be this strong? Not even a Level 3 had this strength." She tightened her fists as she stared at the scene before her. "I don't care if it's been 100 years since I've fought one of these guys, it shouldn't be possible to make them this strong or add souls to it." Her eyes widened as she saw what was coming.

The same red energy from the day before formed in the grey circle on his forehead. "This time it's really over," it said as the energy was almost ready to fire. From out of nowhere, Ben's forearm appeared and blocked the Akuma's view. He just knocked it away though, but was confused. "What the-" he wasn't able to finish that as Ena appeared behind him, sword at the ready and slashed at his back. He arched and accidentally fired the beam straight into the sky. Ena just jumped over him and landed right in front of Ben.

"Heh, what kept you Ena?" Ben asked as he saw Ena trembling.

"I'm scared; I'm so scared I can't stand it. But," she lifted her head and stared straight at the Akuma, "I can't just stand around while you get yourself killed." Ben stood up again and put his left hand on her sword.

"Well put sis," he said, letting her know he was proud of her by using his special term of endearment, smirking. "Time to break out the you-know-what. Are you ready to do this?" Ena looked at him confused.

"The what? Ben what are you talking about?" She said as Ben just scoffed at her, still smirking as he did so.

"You dumbass, what the hell else do you think I'm talking about." He looked her in the eyes and used the only words for it he could think of. "We're gonna combine."

Ena just stood there shocked. "We're gonna combine?"

Lilianna just stared confused. "It makes some sense since his Innocence has an adaptable property to it, but it shouldn't work since they're both using completely different Anti-Akuma weapons."

Ember just stood and stared, feeling hope for some reason. "So they're combining?"

Markus, the only logical one at the moment, just scoffed and stared at Ben like he was stupid. "Oh please."

Ben didn't even pay attention to what the others said. "We'll never know unless we try, now won't we? Ena," the remaining shoulder of his arm turned into a skeletal form of the arm, "Light this on fire." A drill tip emerged from his index finger. "And put this at the end of your sword." It made a 'poink' sound and it fell into his hand. He tossed it to Ena, who clumsily caught it.

"Well, here goes nothing," Ena said as she placed the tip at the end of her sword and lit the end of fire, tapping Ben's new arm and setting it ablaze. Nothing happened and Ben was just standing there with a flaming arm and Ena with a regular sword that she had put a drill bit on the bottom of.

"Heh, you see that? Now we have forces coming from two different fields." He scoffed as he grinned cockily at the Akuma. "What do you say to that you tin headed freak?" Everyone, including Ena, stared at Ben like he was an idiot.

"You're stupid through and through aren't you?" It asked as it began charging another beam. "It's not the number of fields, it's the level of skill!" There was a bright light, the same color as her flame, emanating from Ena's blade as the beam fully charged. "Now die!"

The beam was fired, but was stopped by a wall of flames. The Akuma just stood there surprised as the beam stopped. "Impossible!"

Ember stood back behind them, blinded by the intense light and feeling a large gust of wind try to blow her back. "Benjamin! Ena!" she yelled.

Ena looked at her sword and saw that it was changing and started to divide. She also looked at the flames on Ben's arms seemed to be changing shape. "Wow, incredible," was all Ena could say. Benjamin, being stupid again, looked at his arm confused.

"The hell? What's going on?" He looked at his arm as the metal completely vanished and only the flame, which had changed into the same shape as his other arm and turned into a flowing blue remained.

Ena's sword also changed to have a guard in the shape of a spiral, almost appearing to be the shape of a galaxy, and there was a line spiraling around the blade. What's more a wakizashi* had formed from the part that had been made from the division. She grabbed that with her right hand and spun it around a bit. She then got into a stance with both. "Looks like we were able to combine after all. You were right Ben."

Ben just let a cocky smile pass his face. "Sure looks that way doesn't it?"

*Insert Believer (TV Size) by IKUO*

The wall of flame disappeared and Ben continued walked forward towards the Akuma, who appeared surprised. "How is this possible? How could mere humans be able to combine?" Ben got up close and personal with the Akuma's head.

"You like it? Now I've got the same sources of power as you." The Akuma just took a step back and brought back it's fist.

"Go to hell!" He threw his punch, but not before Ben had prepped his own with his new arm.

"Oh yeah? Well you first!" And Ben threw his own punch, impacting with the Akuma's and turning the attack into a cross counter.

_Mou nanimo nai sekai ja  
Kandou dekinai_

"Remember this you lubbering piece of junk!" Ben yelled as the Akuma struggled not to be blown back by the attack.

"Combining is about taking one fighting spirit," I opened the palm of his flaming arm, preparing his next action.

_Sou, kidzuita sonohi kara  
Wakaru no sa_

"And slamming it into another!" He gripped down on the head, eventually breaking it and separating the top part, making it resemble a helmet and the ring had lost an eighth of its fullness, making one side longer than the other.

_Furue o tomete_

He grabbed the helmet out of the air with his blazing hand. "A combining of courage," Ben continued.

_Hitomi o hirake  
Kimi no jikan o tokihanate!_

"That sets a man's soul on fire!" He yelled out the helmet on his shoulder, transforming it into a shoulder pad that had the same design as the helmet, but backwards and the partial circle was now gold and on the outside. "Just who the hell do you think I am you piece of scrap!"

He stood proudly tall, looking at the Akuma with a burning passion in his eyes. "From now on, the name of the Anti-Akuma weapon, is Tengen Toppa!"

_Mirai e SHOOTIN' STAR!_

Ember just stared at him, as did Markus and Lilianna. "Tengen," Ember started, too amazed to complete her sentence.

"Toppa," Lilianna finished, just feeling the sound of it inspired her.

"Oh please, seriously?" Markus said, not feeling impressed with the name at all.

_Hikari no ARCH egake_

The Akuma drew a pair of black pieces of metal from his hips. "I can't believe I'm being forced to draw my swords." Though it wasn't visible, you could tell that he was getting angry.

_Todoku no sa shinji tsudzukeru naraba_

"Unforgivable," it stated. "This is unforgivable you weakling Exorcist!" And with that he charged at Ben, both swords prepped to thrust into Ben.

"I told you, the name's Tengen Toppa!" He brought back his arm to punch but a pair of drills popped out of his wrists, both pointed towards the Akuma.

_Kimi o yobu koe ga  
Kokoro de hajiketara_

The Akuma thrust both of his blades while Ben hit them with his drills. The two attacks clashed for a moment before the drills completely bore down the machine's blades. The machine was surprised by this and took a step back, not seeing Ben's normal punch coming. He was sent back a few feet, but still stood on its feet.

_Subete ga hajimaru BELIEVER!_

"What happened?" it wondered aloud. "How could he suddenly be so powerful? All he did was set his arm on fire; how can this be?!"

Ben replied easily. "You'll never understand you freak!" In a blur Ena rushed in, both of her blades drawn. "Ena finish it!"

She nodded, and flames surrounded both blades. "Blazing Spiral!" She swung the normal blade, creating a vortex of flames that formed into a drill shape. "CORONA SPIRALING BREAK!" She ran forward with the wakizashi, easily catching up to the vortex and plowing straight towards the Akuma.

"HUMAN SCUM!" It yelled as it opened its mouth to reveal multiple cannons and blasters, but never got to use them. As soon as the mouth opened, Ena plowed straight through him. "This, cannot be," was all he could muster before exploding.

Ena returned to normal, putting the handle back into the jacket pocket. There was a clapping sound and they all turned towards the source, seeing that it was a man in his late 20s. "Nicely done, I thought he needed a bit of humility so thanks for teaching him that for me." He stood up and turned his back. "I'm not looking to fight today, so consider yourselves the first to survive. But if you attack, know that you'd going up against Yggdrasil. Ciao." And with that, he disappeared.

"Wait, get back here you son of a bitch!" Ben yelled and ran in Yggdrasil's direction. Ena stopped him though, before he got too far.

"Hold on Ben." Ben stopped and looked at her confused.

"Now what?" He asked and though she was nervous and scared, she at least had enough courage to speak her mind to him.

"Chasing after him is a bad idea. You're in bad shape." Ben's eyes softened a bit.

"Ena." Before he could say anything else she cut him off again.

"It's not cause I'm scared; well I am but that's not why I think we should stop now." She looked over the horizon, not realizing that the fight had taken a good deal of the day, the sun high above them. "It's so we can fight another day." Ben just stared at her for a second before scoffing a bit.

"Ya know that level head of yours is the only thing that keeps me alive," he mumbled to himself.

"What was that?" Ena asked as Ben turned away, shaking his head.

"Don't pay it too much thought." And with that they all headed back to their base.

*3: 30 p.m., Empty Warehouse*

Ben, Markus and Lilianna were looking over a map on one of Markus' "magic maps" from Chapter 8: Chartsmen so they could locate the facility where Akuma were being produced. Ena and Ember were off to the side, watching them work. "Maybe you two make good partners after all; you and Ben that is," Ember said out of the blue. Ena looked at her confused for a second, but soon got over it.

"Why wouldn't we be? We've been together since before I became an Exorcist," Ena said, starting to reminisce. Ember just scratched her cheek and got a little nervous and shy, which was unlike her.

"Yeah so, um," Ember tried to find the correct words, but had some trouble finding them at first. "I'm sorry I said some terrible things about you. But now I know better."

Ena was surprised that Ember actually did that, but she was flattered all the same. A like blush covered her cheeks, not used to any form of praise. "Don't worry, that's OK." There was a snap and their attention focused on the noise.

"Alright, found it." Markus said as Ben and Lilianna stared at it.

"And it's in the state too. That's convenient," Lilianna said, looking up at Ben. "Can you get us a ride?" Ben just scoffed.

"No, but according to the map, it's up near Tulsa, and with breaks involved it's only about a 24 hour travel." He looked at it again. "And, it seems to be moving slowly, so that'll lessen the time." Ena and Ember walked up and looked at the map.

"Exorcists, we know our next mission," Lilianna said as the all looked at the map. "Get to their facility and blow it sky high." And with that, we went and prepared for our journey.

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

* - A wakizashi is a Japanese short sword. Ena was using a katana only before, so now she wields a katana and a wakizashi. In Japan this would be called a Daisho sword pair.

**AN: And that is it. Wow I did more than I thought I would, writing a lot more than last time. Nothing else to say, so please review and tell me how I did as well as your thoughts on this. Until next time, ciaossu.**


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: Hey everybody, Edward the Pure here to bring you another installment of this story. I don't really have anything to say so how about we get started?**

Chapter 4

*Third POV, Middle of Tulsa, OK*

The group of exorcists had been able to make it to Tulsa without walking, thanks to Markus, who had gotten them a cab so they wouldn't have to walk. They were currently outside of some corporate building sitting down at one of the tables that were located outside of it. The Book of Tales was open, showing some sort of radar of where the factory was. It had changed its course and was now heading away from them. Thankfully it wasn't too fast so they could catch up to it if they wanted. Ben nodded his head and looked up at the other exorcist.

"Alright, so from where we are now, if we walk down this street here," Ben said as he pointed down the street right next to them, "we should be able to find it in about three hours." Everyone nodded in understanding.

"OK, but what if it changes course again?" Markus brought up. Lilianna looked at the radar again.

"There's only one way for it to go if it changes course." She pointed to the left of the blip. "The buildings here are small enough for it to go over them unnoticed. If it goes to the right it'll attract a bunch of attention." They all nodded in understanding. The new Earl didn't make things obvious. He was calm and collected, working from behind the scenes. If he made any moves, it would only be obvious to them.

"Alright, then let's split up," Ben said as he stood up. "Ena, Ember and me will follow the road. Lilianna and Markus, you guys circle around and ambush it if it tries to change course." They nodded and walked in their respective directions.

*Third POV, with Markus and Lilianna*

The two of them walked down the street to where they were supposed to go. The two were silent most of the way, but not the entirety. Markus was the first one to start up a conversation. "Hey Lilianna, mind if I ask you a question?" He asked. The red-head just nodded her head, knowing what his question was probably going to be. "How exactly did you get into the Order?"

The two stopped at a cross walk and waited for it to turn green. "Well, both of my parents were killed by Akuma. I had been living on my own for a while but the Order took me in when they found out I was an Accommodator. Over time I grew close to some of them, except a certain science chief." She balled her fists and a blood vessel was visible on her forehead. "That stupid freaking lazy bastard Komui and all his inventions," she muttered under her breath, but Markus had heard what she said.

"Wait, how could you know Komui? Wasn't he only around about 100 years ago?" He asked her. Her eyes widened when she realized what she said, but only sighed and shook her head.

"Guess the jigs up," she said as the light turned green and they began to walk across the street. "Ben told me not to tell people because it would weird them out too much." Once they crossed the street, Lilianna leaned against a wall. "I've been around, a lot longer than I look." Markus looked at her curiously, not understanding. "I joined the Order when I was 11, but that was about 90 years ago." Markus didn't look convinced.

"Really, you've been in the Order since the days of Allen Walker and Lenalee Lee?" Lilianna nodded. Markus just sighed, knowing there was no way she'd lie. "OK, so then how come you still look 15?"

She just shook her head. "I don't know. Last thing I remember is the Level 4 that attacked HQ when the Noah tried to take back the arc. I was hit on the back of the head by a rock when it went after Komui. The next thing I knew I was in a room that was very hot. When I exited the room, Benjamin and Ena were outside of it waiting for me. They didn't explain what happened, just that they found me in the old base." Markus looked at her confused. If that were true, then how did she survive? "So," Lilianna said, snapping Markus out of his thoughts, "why did you join?"

Markus cleared his throat and began walking away, Lilianna following. "I have some redemption to earn. I did many terrible things when I was younger. An Exorcist actually saved from one when I discovered my Anti-Akuma weapon. I never saw him again after that night when he told me everything and said that I could never keep my grandfather's last wish to have a normal life." The two kept walking, despite Markus having stopped his end of the conversation. "Let's just get this over with. I have a few things to do when we get back," Markus said as Lilianna sighed and just shook her head, knowing that he wouldn't get back on subject after saying that.

"All right, whatever you say," she said as the two arrived at the secondary location for the factory to appear if Ben, Ena and Ember didn't intercept it in time. It was just a waiting game until then.

*Third POV, with the others*

"W-what?!" Ena asked as Ben stood there rubbing his temples, a little bit annoyed from having gotten to their location already but had to wait on the factory to get there. "I don't get what you're saying Ben." Ember had been long forgotten as soon as they got there.

"How more obvious can it get?" He asked as he pointed his thumb at his stump of an arm. "You remember our fight against that level 2 the other day, right?" Ena nodded. "And how combining actually gave us something to beat it?" Ena nodded again. "But we can't do it that way ever again." Ena just looked like she understood a single word.

"If it you guys could beat a level 2 that powerful, why are you saying you shouldn't 'combine' or whatever you want to call it?" Ember asked trying to get into the conversation. Ben just shook his head.

"I'm not saying we can't merge our Anti-Akuma weapons for a fight, I'm just saying HOW we did it should be worked on," he said, getting odd glances from the two girls. "All Ena did was tap the tip of her sword, which she had lit on fire slightly, and lit my arm on fire." He tensed up and tightened his fist. "Do you realize how lame that is?!" He asked, practically yelling.

_So that's what this is all about?_ The two of them asked themselves mentally. _He's worried about image of all things?_ The both of them sweat dropped, knowing that that was something they should have expected from the master of the unexpected.

"But what does it matter?" Ember asked, Ena too shy to ask. Ben looked at her like it should be obvious.

"Every kick-ass fighter has some sort of epic sequence, even Allen had one." Ember sighed and just looked up at the sky.

"Honestly, you're unbearable at times like these," she said quietly to herself. She shook her head and just looked at the duo. "So, how do you think it should go?" Ben just sweat dropped at that.

"I-I don't have an idea of how it should go," he said a bit quietly, but still enough that the other two could hear him. He soon became more confident soon after though. "But even so, when the time comes I know that it'll come in its bad-ass awesomeness." Both of the girls just sweat dropped at that, surprised that they didn't see that coming. Ben always was super spontaneous. A shadow soon casted over them but Ember was the only one who looked up.

"Well, let's hope that's soon," Ember said as the other two noticed the shadow and looked up. Right above them was some sort of serpentine thing right above them. "Looks like the factory is in the arc." Her arms glowed and her metal gauntlets formed around her forearms.

"And they brought the fight to us," Ben said as a few level 1s and at least two level 2s, too far away to tell anything about them except that one was human shaped and the other some a little like a barrel mixed with one of those cup in ball toys, fell from the 'head' of the arc. "You two ready?" He asked as a couple of emerald tendrils shot out at one of the level 1 Akuma, allowing him to create his right arm. His right eye also changed to its cursed form, forcing him to see the souls of the tortured in the Akuma.

Ena pulled out her black handle, igniting it in flames and turning it into its sword form and changing her eyes and hair to a blazing crimson. "We got no choice right?" She pointed the sword at one of the level 1s. "That's our job." She said a bit hesitantly and made an audible gulp, but otherwise seemed calm.

"Then let's go and show them," Ben charged straight forward, his hand already changed into a drill, "just who the hell we are!" The drill rotated quickly and pushed straight through one of the level 1s.

Ember just shook her head. "Honestly, leave some for me," she said as she jumped in and slashed two apart quicker than anyone could follow.

Ena, not wanting to be left out took in a deep breath and ran forward, her sword drawn back. A level 1 approached her but she just cut in half like it was nothing, an explosion resulting soon after. She looked over and saw that Ben had been surrounded on four sides. "Ben, North East West and South!" she yelled.

He quickly spun on his heel and shot out a small drill bit at each of them. Each blew up quickly after. "And for you it's what you should do," he said quickly as he turned around and ran at the level 2s.

Ena thrust her sword up, causing a burst of flames to shoot up and engulf an Akuma just above her. She just shook her head and ran after Ben. "Ember, let's go!" She yelled as Ember slashed another one in half. The slightly older exorcist nodded and ran towards the level 2s as well.

When they were right in front of the Akuma they were easier to make out. The human shaped one had long lanky arms with sharp claws at the end, short, stubby legs, and an annoyed look on its chest (its face was on its chest). The other one had a barrel for a torso, lying horizontal, with a human face in the middle, what appeared to be a handle for a gun, even with the trigger, and its arms were a pair of steel balls attached by what looked like vines. Ben smirked as he looked at the two of them. "Ember, take the barrel head, he's a regular level 2," he said as Ember nodded, changing her claws from a metal component to pure plasma.

"With pleasure," she said as she slashed at the barrel-shaped Akuma, who easily dodged by backing up. "I'll make sure that this soul won't even get a scratch." She kept slashing away so that the Akuma was far enough away that her fight wouldn't interfere with Ben and Ena's.

"Looks like we'll be working on the fly sooner than expected," Ben said, earning a smirk from Ena.

"You know what they say, the sooner the better," she said as she got ready to fight. Ben got into a stance as well. The Akuma just shook its head as the expression changed from annoyed to angry.

"So you're only fighting me two on one?" He said as his claws extended and he did a back hand motion, forcing the duo to jump back to avoid it. "Don't waste my time filthy exorcists!" The both of them knew that this wouldn't be easy. But they had to be ready, this was going to be where they could take down the Earl's factory. There was no way they were going to mess it up. No matter what got in their way.

*Third POV, Lilianna and Markus*

A shadow passed over the girl out of her time and the guilty boy as some sort of serpentine thing passed over them, dropping multiple level 1s and throwing in a level 2 here and there. "Looks like there was less time than we thought," Lilianna said as she grabbed her scythe charm, transforming it into a full size scythe.

"And it looks like it went off course so Ben'll get bored." Markus tapped his pocket-book as it 'poof'ed up to the size of a large text-book. "Let's get ready for these guys quickly." And with that both of them ran straight into battle, taking down level 1's left and right.

Meanwhile from up above the two of them Yggdrasil looked down at them, soon looking over to where the other battle was going on. "Let's see how long it'll take for that Feather to be clipped off." He smirked and looked like he was holding in a maniacal laugh. "Guess it's time to say good-bye to you, Benjamin Simon Walker." He then shook his head. "And maybe you as well, Ena Carmelo." He put his hands in his pocket and just watched. "Or is it Tsubasa?" He asked himself as he just shook his head. "Well whatever the case it matters not now. But I do wonder: what's your next move? How will you get out of this Check?" He turned around and a door way similar to a cupboard door appeared out of thin air, opening to reveal a spiraling hallway. He stepped into it and turned his head to look back. "Maybe in a couple of months you can face your true enemy." And with that the door closed and vanished into thin air.

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

**AN: And there we have it. Kind of a short chapter as opposed to what this has been getting but I wanted this to be a set up for the battles. But with that out-of-the-way, I promise that I am going to do my best on the fights, but I'm not sure when I'll be back, since I basically just BSed the hell out of those two level 2s. I want this to be less than 15 chapters, aiming for 10. It won't be D. Gray Man like for this story so I apologize for those who've read this far hoping for that, but hear me out before leaving. There will be a sequel to this that I don't know how long it'll be that will fit more into the D. Gray Man stuff, including the Noah, going more in-depth with the Innocence and the types, as well as the evolution of the Anti-Akuma weapons. However, I do have a question: do you guys want me to write a back story fic for this? To tell you how everyone met and give you a better insight on their relationships and how they learned to get along, especially how they all joined the Black Order. I'll keep it as canon as I can. Also, I'm sure that at least one of you knows who the main character is now, but I've decided this story will have no AN guests now, so just me rambling and rambling. So, hope you guys enjoyed. Now, hope I've been putting this here but if not, here it is. You know the drill of reading and reviewing so please do so. I hope to see you guys soon. So until then, ciaossu.**


	6. Update

**AN: Hey everyone, Edward the Pure here. Just thought I'd give you guys an update on some stuff. It's nothing to serious, just a bit of apologizing and to talk about a few things. First off on the business here is that I would like to apologize for my lack of being on here, to my readers and those I follow who also follow me. It's just college, and I'm sure most of you guys can accept that excuse, but whenever I give it I feel so bad about it. I can't explain why it is, but, well, it's complicated. I'll try to get a review to you guys, you know who you are, as soon as I can. Secondly, my dad is still doing alright but I'm not sure if something will happen again or not. If anything does happen I promise to let you guys know. You guys need to know if I'm going to be away for awhile because, you guys are the reason I keep writing. If you guys didn't like my writings, I might just end my account permanently. And finally on this update like thing, I'm afraid you guys still have to wait for chapters. I am having horrible writers block and the only things I can think of are for the near end of my stories. I do have key events planned out, but those are farther in the future. I'll try to get you guys something soon, I promise. And if my writings have upset you in any way or, if I'm right about this, I seem somehow different in my writing style, please let me know. I sound like someone desperate for a review here. I apologize for that. I'd say somethings, but I'd probably just dig my own hole. So I'm going to leave you guys off with that. I hope to actually get something for you guys soon. I hope that the time from now until then treats all of you well and I'll see you next time. Until then, ciaossu.**


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